A Verizon storefront in Massachusetts. Image: QualityHD/Shutterstock
Verizon says its 5G broadband internet service is going live later this autumn.
US telecoms giant Verizon said it is launching the first commercial 5G service, dubbed Verizon 5G Home, on 1 October.
It has been available for order since yesterday (13 September) in Houston, Los Angeles, Indianapolis and Sacramento.
Faster speeds for Verizon customers
While the plan is not true mobile 5G, it should still bring faster broadband speeds for home internet in the range of gigabit fibre networks. It will also help Verizon in its future mobile roll-out plans.
Residents of the above cities can now sign up for the plan, which is set to cost $50 dollars a month for existing Verizon Wireless customers and $70 for non-Verizon customers. The company says speeds will range from 300Mbps to 1Gbps.
Ronan Dunne, head of wireless at Verizon, said: “We developed early standards that allowed the industry and hardware and software manufacturers to build solutions more quickly. As a result of this initiative and ongoing collaboration, we will rapidly deliver the promise of 5G to our customers.”
New innovation labs across the US
This news comes as the company announced the expansion of its 5G Labs to four new locations across the US: Palo Alto, Washington DC, Waltham and Los Angeles. The labs will be complete by the end of 2018 and will include live 5G networks to help start-ups, universities and tech firms collaborate with Verizon.
“Our 5G Labs will be where collaboration and innovation happen. We’re opening access to our 5G network, because we believe the next-generation solutions that will ride on it will be the result of collaboration and innovation by an entire ecosystem of developers,” said Verizon senior vice-president of strategy, innovation and product development, Toby Redshaw.
The LA lab will focus on AR and holograms, while the existing New York lab will look at media and finance tech. In Palo Alto, the lab will examine emerging technologies, education and big data while Waltham will be a hub for robotics, healthcare and real-time enterprise services.
A Verizon storefront in Massachusetts. Image: QualityHD/Shutterstock
